Yes, today, Boston Red Thoughts turns 6, and if you had told me back in 2006 that I would still be blogging, and at nearly 1200 blog post, a Facebook page, a Twitter Account, and be President of the Boston Chapter of the Baseball Bloggers Alliance to boot, I would have said you were a stark raving lunatic.

But here I am, having been able to write about a World Series championship for my beloved Sox, met some incredible people, read amazing books, and done some wonderful things. So thanks to all of you who contributed to BRT, in word or deed, and most of all to my readers–I am humbled that you take the time to read Boston Red Thoughts. Thank you.

So how bout Jon Lester last night??!! I wanted to check for pods in the basement, as he hasn’t pitched that well in I don’t know HOW long. A complete game (his 1st since 2010), taking the shutout to the 9th inning, and only giving up 1 run then? AND ending the game on a high note, with his 6th strikeout of the contest.

The rest of his line: Throwing 119 pitches, 73 for strikes, Lester gave up 8 hits and walked NONE…

Looks like Kevin Youkilis will be back sometime next week, but then the $64 thousand dollar questions is, what do you do with Will Middlebrooks? He is ON FIRE, how can you send him down? Bobby Valentine isn’t saying just yet: “I think that’s a little premature. We’ll do exactly what’s right. Those things, they usually play themselves out. No need to really make a decision until it’s time to make a decision.”

So glad Daniel Nava is back, and that he is doing so well, since returning to the Sox, he has started all 5 games and has batted .583 with 6 RBI’s, including a 2-run shot in last night’s win vs the Mariners. Oh, and an OBP’s of .750…SEVEN FIFTY…Yeah, it’s a small sample size, and he won’t be able to keep it up for a season, but it’s still nice to see the nice guys do well…

Supposedly, the placement of Jake on the 60-day was only to free up the roster spot to replace the ailing Darnell McDonald, I reallyREALLY hope this is the case. With the move, the earliest he could be back is June 13th, which apparently is probably not going to happen anyway. He has not been cleared to do any baseball activities at this point, only doing strength and cardio….

Also in pace to return soon is pitcher Aaron Cook who was spiked in the knee in his only start of the 2012 Campaign. He has started throwing again, despite the 11 stitches used to repair the nastiness that was the gouge in his knee. He can come off the DL on May 21st, and will probably be ready to do so then…

And that should be right around the time that Daisuke is back, despite a less than stellar performance in his last start (5 runs in 5 1/3 innings)…so its gonna get interesting, especially if Josh Beckett continues his crappiness–on the field and off…

Neato (and completely unbelievable) stat: Remember how the bullpen was like, THE WORST? How bout these apples? Since April 23rd, the Red Sox bullpen leads ALL OF BASEBALL with a 1.41 ERA in 76.2 innings. Holy Buckets!

Had the TiVo all fired up to record the Pre-game ceremony honoring Tim Wakefield today–probably get very dusty in the home office of Boston Red Thoughts…

Recently sat down with BBA President and Founder, Daniel Shoptaw, of C70 At The Bat, and had a great conversation about Boston Red Thoughts, The Red Sox, and baseball in general, you can check that out here…

Finally, fellow BBA-er Michael Clair, from Old Time Family Baseball, has done rigorous research for the 2nd year in a row, as to whether or not using pink bats on Mother’s Day improved performance. In other words: Does love for your mother improve your on-field performance? Check it out here…

Coming up: Josh Beckett takes the mound for 2nd and final game of this short series against Seattle. Hopefully, he will suck less than he did in his last outing, where he could not get out of the 3rd inning. And hopefully there will be some attitude adjustment–cause right now, his attitude is sucking worse than his pitching, if that is even possible.

And ya know what Josh? Today is Tim Wakefield’s day–even if you don’t give a crap about the fans anymore, do it for your former teammate, who ALWAYS had your back. He is opposed by Blake Beavan for Seattle. 1st pitch 4:05pm…

[…] as I mentioned above, this is the 1200th post for Boston Red Thoughts. Just like I said for BRT’s 6th Birthday, I never thought I would get here, but it’s been a great ride–with no end in sight. Thanks […]